Cabinet structure



May 21, 1957 H. J. M. LAMBERT ETAL 2,793,093

CABINET STRUCTURE Original Filed June 6. 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 mvasmons HENRI Jacques MARcLmBERr & GEoRsEs'PAuL Momem ATTQRME'YS' y 1957 H. J. M. LAMBERT ETAL 2,793,093

CABINET STRUCTURE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original FiledJune 6. 1948 EM T0 R13 HENRI JACQUEMRC LAMBERT 2 GEORGES PAUL, (mam United States Patent CABINET STRUCTURE Henri Jacques Marc Lambert, Sevres,.and Georges Paul Mongiu, Saint-GratiemFrance Continuation of abandoned application Serial No. 760, January 6, 1948. This application February11,.1953, Serial No.- 336,424

Claims priority, application France January 18, 1947 3 Claims; (Cl: 312-292) boards fixed to the floor and usually fitted with large cumbersome doors; Another more up to date arrangementis known, comprising two distinct parts: one com ponent attached to thewall and, below it, another component, known as the block, lying on the floor. The upper part of the block formsthe working surface and thecupboard, not as deep as the block, is placed at a higher level than the top'of the block and leaves the working surface free. It is understandable that it is essential to'be able to open or close the cupboard with the greatest case without the closing mechanism, .in its open position, getting in the users way.

The present specification solves this problem simply and with taste, whether it be a case of cupboards placed on the floor, cupboards fixed above or near the blocks or plain Working or'serving surfaces.-

Themethod according to the invention is characterised in that it consists in dividing the enclosed volume available inside the piece of furniture in question into two distinct parts, viz. the firstof these than can be called the spare volume and that is made use ofneither frequently nor regularly andthe second of usually smaller size and known asthe Working volume that is used very often; The spare-volume is fitted with a closing device of some common type whilst the working volume is supplied witha special means of closing, hardly or not at all cumbersome when lame and preferably associated in its design with the closing device for the spare volume, the borderline between the above volumes being defined as it were, by the closing means. 7

Furthermore, in its open position, the working volumes closing device in no" way obstructs access toanother volume as in thecase of standard sliding doors.

Indeed, the housewife, and the users have at. their disposal two distinct volumes formed by the closing means. The working volume only will be readily: ac cessible and will thus contain those articles which area The spare volume will only -be.-=

constantly. in" use; resorted" to on'farrareroccasions and that is why its closing means are of far lesser importance.

Other characteristics follow from the description hereinafter presented with reference to the appended drawings and purely by way of example. In said drawings:

Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a cupboard designed according to invention for domestic use;

Fig. 2 shows a front elevation of it;

Fig. 3 shows a side elevation of it;

Fig. 4 shows a cross-sectional view along line IV-IV of Figure 2;

CAD

Figi 5a shows a plan-view thereof;

Figs. 6 and: 7 show cross-sectionlsalong lines VI -VI and VII-VII of Figure 2;.

Figs. 8 and 9 showdilferent ways of operating the doors that close the working volume;

Figs 10 and 11 show frontand sideviews of a means for mechanicaloperationof the above mentioned door;

Fig. 12 and 13 show front and? cross-sectional views of ameans for the electric operation of. this door; and Figs. 14 and ISsho'wa means for controlling several doors.

According tothe example. of Figuresl to 7, the chest according to invention comprises a unit 1. made up into a cupboard or a cabinet with several compartments 2,

2, 2", 2", and combined with a. unit.3,. made up: of

a usual block andincluding the service or working surface 3'. The cabinet 1 is situated above the surface 3. Each compartment is closed. by adoor 4. the lower portion of which? is cut away at 5 to give a hatch effect as far as possible.

A shutter as at 6 or a similar sort allows the hatch.

to be closed.

These hatches as at S'define the limits of the working compartment or volume 7, whilst the remaining part of the compartment forms the spare volume 8.

Frequent use will be made of the working volume and occasionaluse of the spare volume. Under these conditions'if there is no objection to having large sized doors 4 in th'eway when put to use because done so only on rare occasions, it is essential that the working volume be closed without causing any obstruction, since it will be oftenoperatedand is at users height.

Figures 2 to7, show how to achieve this result.

In this" embodiment, shutter 6 slides for instance in theactual body of" door 4. A handle 9, for example, allows the shutter to be operated upwards and downwards.

(Figs. 2-3). The door panels are shown at 10 and the grooves in which the shutter 6 slides at 11..

Means for liftingvth'e shutter 6 can'obviously be arranged and possibly situated at 12;

{tccording to Figure 8, theshutter is made up ofscreerr 15 wound around a roller 16. Figure 9 shows the case of a shutter made o'ffolding'slats 17.

Another: example illustrated in Figures 10 and 11 shows shutter 6- carrying, on the one hand, a handle9 for closing by hand, and on the" other hand, a stop 19 engaging the undercdge 20 of alever. 21- which is subjectedto the action of spring'22. The shutter 6 is connected, for instance, toa spiral spring 24 by-acable 23. To open the" workingvolume all that is needed is to rock lever- 21 in the direction of arrow b, and this allows the shutter 6 to spring up in the direction of arrow f2. The lifting of shutter- 6 can be obtained through any power means, so that the shutter may be drivenelectrically; by compressed air, or hydraulically. Figuresl2 and l3show the;

lay out of theelectrical means. The shutter isattached at ports the core 31 of the electromagnet 32. The working of this arrangement is obvious and so is the manner of obtaining a reduction in speed. It is specified that the operation of shutters of a number of cupboards cabinets can be carried out shutter by shutter or simultaneously. The electrical, compressed air, or other control means easily solve the problem by means of general circuit-breakers or control-valves. In the method by hand, such a simul- .taneous operation can be obtained, for example, by the arrangement shown in Figures 14 and 15. In this modification, a spindle 33 carries levers 34, 34, 34" each of Patented May 21, 1957 A handle 9 allows the door' 4 itself to be opened by swivelling on hinges 38 in the usual way which operates a shutter. A simple handle 35 may thus operate simultaneously all the levers 34. Spindle 33 drives each lever 34 by means of a lug 36 adapted to move within a slot 37 provided in the hub carrying the lever. Of course, the invention is in no way restricted to the methods of operation described and illustrated, for these are only given by way of examples.

It should be pointed out that the use of the cabinet according to the invention must obviously be considered in combination with a usual kitchen block as shown at 3 in Fig. 1 above which said cabinet is situated.

It must further be observed that the following features are also contained in this new cabinet:

(at) the cabinet is situated at such a height with regard to the operator that its lower part is directly accessible when the user stands before it;

(b) the provision of a vertically hinged door closing the entire volume provided inside the cabinet;

a sliding flap is provided in parallel and adjacent relationship with respect to the door and is adapted to slide while remaining in contact with said latter;

(d) said flap opens and closes an opening provided in the lower part of the door and corresponds to the said lower portion of the cabinet which isdirectly accessible for the user;

(e) the width of the flap and opening is equal the width of the door.

What we claim is:

1. In a kitchen assembly having the usual kitchen block with an upper working surface, a cabinet having a main body space positioned above said surface at such a height that users access to said main body space of said cabinet is most facilely achieved through its lowermost portion from the front of said block, a vertically hinged door for closing said space, said door including a'frame having vertical sides, a top and a bottom, a panel mounted on and covering and filling said frame, said panel having an aperture at the lower partthereof of substantially the width of the door, a vertically slidable flap combined with said panel and adapted to open and close said. aperture, said aperture being the only one provided in-said door and corresponding to the total available apertured space in between the inner surfaces of the vertical sides and of the bottom part of said frame, said frame having guiding grooves on said vertical sides, said flap engaging and sliding in said grooves, the horizontal width of said flap being somewhat larger than the width of said apertured space, whereby the maximum possible aperture is obtained for a given frame of the door, thus providing the maximum possible access facilities to the inner lower part of the main body space of the cabinet, the said flap sliding closely adjacent to the front face of said panel and being concealed behind it in open position of said flap, spring means connected to said flap and urging it upwards in the open position, and means for locking and unlockingsaid flap.

2. A cabinet designed to be arranged on a side wall of a room above a kitchen block with an upper working surface, said cabinet having a main body space adapted to be positioned above said working surface at such a height that users access to said main body space is most facilely achieved through its lowermost portion from in front of said block, a vertically hinged door for closing said space, said door including a frame having vertical sides, a top and a bottom, a panel mounted on and covering and filling said frame, said panel having an aperture at the lower part thereof of substantially the width of the door, a vertically slidable flap combined with said panel and adapted to open and close said aperture, said aperture being the only-one provided in said door and corresponding to the total available apertured space in between inner surfaces of the vertical sides of the bottom part of said frame, said frame having guiding grooves on said vertical sides, said flap engaging and sliding in said grooves, the horizontal width of said flap being somewhat larger than the width of said apertured space, whereby maximum possible aperture is obtained for a given frame of the door, thus providing the maximum possible access facilities to the inner lower part of the main body space of the cabinet, the said flap sliding closely adjacent to the front face of said panel and being concealed behind it in open position of said flap, spring means connected to said flap and urging it upwards in the open position, and means for locking and unlocking the flap.

3. For use in overlying relationship to the upper working surface of a conventional kitchen block, a cabinet having an inner space which is composed of a working volume in its lowermost portion to which frequent access is desired for insertion and removal of frequently required kitchen items used on the block and a spare volume for storage of less frequently needed items located above said working volume and to which access is less frequently required, a vertically hinged outwardly swingable door for closing said space, said door including a frame having vertical sides, a top and a bottom, a panel mounted on and covering and filling said frame, said panel having an aperture at the lower part of said panel in front of said working volume, said frame having guiding grooves in its vertical sides, a vertically slidable flap slidably mounted in said grooves for movement relative to said panel to open and close said aperture, said aperture being the only one provided in said panel and spanning the entire width of the door between the vertical sides of said frame, and said flap having a width in excess of the width of the aperture to fit slidably in the grooves and provide maximum possible access to the working volume of the cabinet space when said flap is slid upwardly in said grooves and thereby avoiding the necessity of swinging said door to an open and obstructing position for the user relative to the working surface of said block, said grooves being located behind the front face of the panel so that the fiap may slide closely adjacent to the front face of the panel and be concealed behind it in open position of said flap, spring means connected to said flap and urging it upward into the open position, and means for locking said flap in its closed position and for unlocking said flap to permit said spring means to move said flap to its open position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 793,582 Henning June 27, 1905 2,045,879 Shafer June 30, 1936, 2,187,004 Wolf Jan. 16, 1940 2,349,541 Earle May 23, 1944 2,411,713 Denison Nov 26, 1946 

